the buzz log
With Greatest Affection, Signed the IRS
Usually a missive with an Internal Revenue Service return address is about as welcome as a dusting of poison ivy.
Offer a little stimulus, however, and taxpayers can't wait. So, understandably, initial reports that 15,000 taxpayers would not be getting an IRS love letter sent the Buzz into a tizzy. Fortunately, that number turned out to be much smaller: Only 1,500 checks have been inadvertently wired to the wrong accounts. (Don't even think of keeping it!) Out of 30 million bits of ... um ... stimuli, that's an error rate of just .005%, give or take a decimal point. At least the IRS didn't toy with taxpayer affections like the agency did back in 2001.
Except there's another small snafu: The IRS also 'fessed up to forgetting to send out 300-dollar child refunds to as many as 350,000 households. Before you ask: The IRS will mail another letter copping to the error, and the checks will follow in July. The upside: The U.S. Post Office must be raking it in from its repeat customer.
By the way, if you did get a check but not your full share, SavvySugar points out that the IRS has kindly deducted back taxes or other debts in advance.
Despite all this, the government agency should feel swamped with affection. How have people loved the IRS in the past month? Let us count a few of the searches: "2008 tax rebate checks tax return" (+14,579%), "government rebate checks 2008" (+13,085%), "tax stimulus checks" (+5,798%), "federal tax rebate" (+652%), "600 dollar tax refund 2008" (+566%), "bush tax refund 2008" (+300%), and "2008 federal kicker checks rebate checks" (off the charts). The most frequent query? "When will I get my tax rebate check."
The lovefest may not stop. SavvySugar notes that a rebate repeat may be possible next year, in this IRS article found under the section "Not eligible at the current time?" Who says you can't buy love?
Filed under: Taxes, Money, Government
Monday's Buzz You Missed
Monday's Buzz followed up on the disaster that forced Myanmar to reach out for help, the virus that pushed China to utter reassurances, and the refunds that compelled financial experts to administer common sense.
Requests for Disaster Aid
The death-toll numbers coming in from Myanmar were already mind-numbing at nearly 4,000, but Cyclone Nargis—which the AP described as having turned the "country's largest city into a pre-modern state of existence"—may claim up to 10,000 lives. The situation prompted the country's isolationist government to reach out for help, and other nations' governments and celebrities to lend their aid. Early reports of the disaster prompted searches for Asian tsunami of 2004, but the follow-up coverage generated Buzz revolving around two Laura Bush stories: one about The First Lady scolding the country (referring to it by its old name, Burma) for not warning its own citizens in time, and another about her press conference going off on a tangent about an upcoming wedding.
Assurances of Health Safety
A virus has sickened hundreds and killed 25 children so far in China's southern provinces. Although the World Health Organization has said the contagion will not affect the thousands expected to converge in Beijing for the upcoming Olympics, the enterovirus 71 (aka EV71 virus) has not yet run its course and has spread to the capital. The intestinal virus is a regular occurrence among children, but Time.com reported that this season's atypical symptoms are preventing proper diagnoses.
Advice for Tax Rebates
Retailers may be flying like buzzards around your tax rebate check, but a
Yahoo! Finance story suggests investing that chump change in its list of
the 10 best mutual funds. U.S. News & World Report also recommends five low-entry investment funds to earn the bragging rights to say, "Yeah, I got me a port-fol-io." In case the advice sounds way too sensible, New York Magazine's suggestions run the gamut from retirement accounts to custom-made fake ponytails.
Other stories spiking in Buzz ...
- At the 161st convention of the American Psychiatric Association, attendees talked about how about 1 in 5 soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and/or depression, and the need for public care to address this long-term issue.
- You'd have to pool a bunch of tax rebates to get 50 Cent to perform at a bar mitzvah. TheStreet.com breaks down how much the talent costs, including a one-nighter with Madonna (no, not that kind of a one-nighter), or having J.Lo at your wife's 30th birthday party. How much for the opportunity to say, "You're much hotter than J.Lo?" Priceless.
- With more primaries looming, the Democratic contenders' gas-tax ads have undergone critical scrutiny worthy of a quickie dissertation. The Washington Post posits gas, already laden with environmental baggage, as political shorthand for class issues—working stiff vs. elitist effete. Meanwhile, Salon delves into accuracy and a bit on just what the federal gas tax is, which may help those searchers looking up "federal gas tax" and "federal gas tax holiday" online. In case that holiday never comes, Mashables has pulled together an online list of cheap-gas trackers.
Filed under: Health, Taxes, Disaster, Recaps, Daily Recap
The Idlers of April
Oh, ye of little preparation. Your resolve is keen, your spirit willing, but your financial organization skills land you in the annual tax-filing panic.
But why be negative on the ides of April? You, not your snide "I-already-got-my-refund-AND-Bush-personally-signed-my- economic-stimulus-tax-rebate" colleagues, will be bonding with other hanger-ons at the Post Office today. You can all chortle about the past 7 days, how you scrambled online for the "irs mailing address" (+977%), "2007 form 1040 instructions" (+644%), and "2007 irs tax rate tables" (+368%).
A few slackers will draw a laugh with their admissions that they looked for "free online tax preparation" (+378%) and "free turbo tax 2007" (+202%), and found out it's really for the people who filed a return only for the rebate. Others will collectively bemoan their writer's cramp from filling out sheets like the "irs form 6251" (+163%) and "form 4868" (+141%). Hopefully more than a few will explain they had success from searching on "free answers to tax questions" (+184%). All will roll on the ground over the frenetic misspellings like "irs.gob" and "trubo tax."
The nice thing about this government-sponsored bonding experience is how it unites brethren of all ages (for age does not wither the procrastinating instinct), and men and women alike. If your neighborhood lacks these johnny-come-latelies, here is where your brethren lie, based on "irs" look-ups in the past 7 days:
| Top "IRS" Seeking States
|
'Deadline' Is Such a Harsh Word
Time waits for no one, and searchers know it. Witness the number of lookups on different types of deadlines. Queries on everything from the NBA's trade deadline to the income tax deadline are tying a ribbon 'round searchers' fingers.
We followed the white rabbit and took a deeper look at a topic you best not forget. Below are the top ten deadlines that kept searchers awake at night this past week. Tick tock, tick tock...
Tax Man Snipes
He was a cop who reached the boiling point, a man with jungle fever. But when Wesley Snipes came to collect from the Tax Man, he may have met his match.
People knee-deep in IRS searches (+31%) have taken the time to look up "wesley snipes tax evasion" travails. As the former blockbuster star goes before a jury of his peers in February, it's hard to imagine how public sympathy will play out. Will they be on the side of the daywalker, who said recently that the government's just out to make an example out of him? Or will taxpayers believe a super-rich 12th-degree black belt should've known better?
But, we confess a fondness for the guy who didn't look half bad as a blond, or a woman, for that matter. Here's our free advice: This year, follow the regular Joe Wage Earner's searches in filing your 2007 paperwork....
Filed under: Celebrities, Taxes, Law
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oddest Jobs | Breakout! |
| 2 | Vivienne Marcheline And Knox Leon | Breakout! |
| 3 | Shwayze Song | Breakout! |
| 4 | Cell Phone Etiquette | Breakout! |
| 5 | Your Home Page | 17280% |
| 6 | W Magazine | 8647% |
| 7 | Christie Brinkley | 8361% |
| 8 | Selma Blair | 5953% |
| 9 | Nashville Star | 2758% |
| 10 | Neiman Marcus Christmas Book | 1365% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leryn Franco | +244 | 456 |
| 2 | Holly Madison | +288 | 351 |
| 3 | Halloween Costumes | -17 | 222 |
| 4 | Hi-5 | +8 | 220 |
| 5 | Kellie Pickler | +101 | 200 |
| 6 | Jamie Lynn Spears | +80 | 180 |
| 7 | NFL | +0 | 136 |
| 8 | Barack Obama | -1 | 119 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
For more detailed information, visit our FAQ.